"
There are times when people have to rise to the occasion. These are times when saviors have to emerge to lead the nation out of the quagmire. The savior does not come from the sky, but has to emerge from our mindset. We have all failed our people by not being able to move in that direction. It is time now for us to act with a shared vision and take up that challenge.
"
– Abdulkadir Yahya
Co-founder and Director of the CRD, addressing the Mogadishu civic forum on 6 Jne 2005.
BIOGRAPHY
Abdulkadir Yahya
1957 – 2005
Abdulkadir Yahya, (YAHYA) was a father of nine children, born in Mogadishu, Somalia in 1957. Among his countrymen was known as SHARAFLE (the Honorable).
Yahya, was a nice, socially gifted man, beloved by everyone, always surrounded by people, someone who did not make a distinction between the people regardless of their tribe origin or social economic class. He has always paid a special attention to those who are isolated minorities and the poor people in the society.
Before the civil war, he was, among other things, a director of the Baylka-factory, a translator and mediator for Madbacada football team and a staff member of the American embassy in Somalia.
From the beginning of the civil war in 1990, he refused to flee the country, while he had the chance to do that. He has repeatedly said that he has a special responsibility on his shoulders and that he cannot abandon his people at that time.
POEM
Abdulkadir Yahya
Oh YAHYA, we feel nothing these days,
The source of peace and the house of wisdom are in mourning,
The intellectual slain in the early hours of the morning,
Though you are in the grave and our trust is damaged,
Your words echo and you have not left us,
What you have sewn for the sake of usable peace,
We will not be silent about and your mission will endure,
And with Allah wish it will cover the fullness of our land.